Wicked problems in a sustainable context
The project aims to equip the students to deal with wicked problems by designing programmes around sustainable development for integration, to achieve a transformation according to the CDIO Standard (the CDIO INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework to produce the next generation of engineers).
This development project started in 2023. It is carried out at the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering (ABE) in collaboration with other schools within the framework of the change programme "Future Education at KTH". It will continue in 2024.
Background
Students need to be challenged and trained more about problems that do not have a clear solution and may not even be possible to define (wicked problems). It is about introducing an approach that can support the management of complex challenges in a sustainable society. According to the impact goal for Principle 2 of the change programme "Future Education at KTH", no student should leave KTH with a diploma, without having worked in a project with a complex task that has a high degree of uncertainty.
Aim and objectives
The overall objective is to naturally incorporate learning activities related to wicked problems into our educational programmes which makes students more trained and prepared for working life, i.e. what you can expect from the engineer of the future.
What we want to achieve
- The programmes should reach a higher level on the CDIO scale (3-5) by continuing to work with programme development around sustainable development in some of the education programmes at ABE for strong integration and (in the long term) transformation according to the CDIO Standard.
- The teacher faculty should be able to share experiences and help, dare and inspire collective learning in this area.
- To contribute to ensuring that all students at KTH in 2027 have skills for sustainable engineering work and have experience in working both cross- and multi-disciplinary, both with students from other programs at KTH and other universities. No student should leave KTH (with a degree) without having worked on a project with a complex task that includes a high degree of uncertainty.
The results of this project are expected to provide scalability to the benefit of KTH.
Milestones and preliminary time table
2023-2025:
- Current situation analysis based on studies made and organised work shops etc. and delivered courses (project course in building construction);
- Preparation and organisation of various activities in the form of work shops with teachers and students;
- Competence development around challenge-driven education (course participation etc.) ;
- Action plans and measures proposals.
We include teachers at ABE, the Division of Learning in STEM (LiSTEM), and a broader group of teachers at KTH from different technology areas and students.
Challenges
Students in the built environment are trained in critical and independent thinking about complex problems. Identifying problems and then trying to find solutions is common in projects, and on a more basic level, problems may be identified in advance. Quickly identifying problems and trying to solve them can be appealing to both students and teachers. But it becomes meaningless unless the root cause of the problem(s) has been identified, i.e. spending a lot of time "just" thinking about what the problem is is essential. Trying to find solutions that are neither right nor wrong is frustrating for many. Students may experience the whole thing as fluff.
Engineering students are trained to solve problems with more or less exact solutions, which makes them less prepared to deal with situations where problems are challenging to identify, where the need for information is unclear (what do we need to know and why and is information available) and where solutions may not exist but only better or worse ones.
Status and suggestions for improvement
- An analysis of the current situation is partly based on exchanging experiences and discussions at the workshops.
- Competence development is ongoing among the teaching community and should continue in spring 2024 (several teachers in the project are now taking the course Challenge-Driven Education, LH233V).
We also welcome input from stakeholders. Action plans and proposals for measures have not yet been finalised.
Results and learnt lessons
Workshop organisation and planning supported by LiSTEM and the knowledge sharing at these workshops can be disseminated to others.
Literature is available, and study circles can easily be arranged to give inspiration to more people.
Questioning is refreshing, such as why students should learn more about wicked problems and different views of what wicked problems mean.
Next step
- That skills to deal with these kinds of problems make students more sought-after on the labour market, but also make our education programmes more attractive to apply for;
- That more and more teachers get involved so that a change towards a more challenge-driven education actually takes place.